


The minor fall and the major lift

by PerseusHuntress



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 13:29:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16833565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerseusHuntress/pseuds/PerseusHuntress





	The minor fall and the major lift

“It will be okay” Tali squeezed her hand.

“I appreciate the optimism” Shepard half sobbed, half laughed.

“Do you want me to find Garrus?” she wrapped her arm around Shepard’s waist pulling her closer.

“Not really, no” she whispered leaning into the quarian’s embrace. “Will you stay?”

“Sure” she nodded in agreement reaching out to stroke the loose strands of hair out Shepard’s eyes.

Tali was surprised to find her in here, curled up in a hidden corner of the room. It wasn’t so much that she was in the Battery, hell she spends more time here than in her own room. It was that she was alone. Shepard was rarely unattended, if she wasn’t surrounded by her crew or Sam reading out reports as she trailed after the Commander, she would be with Garrus. This time however, he was nowhere to be found.

Shepard was crying. She never cried, at least Tali has never seen it. It broke her heart to see her friend like this. Shepard hugged her legs, face buried in her knees, silent tears made tracks on her cheeks, she hardly acknowledged her when she arrived. There was some missive or other Sam wanted her to relay but it was lost amidst the concern.

She’s been acting strange ever since they came back from Thessia. It was understandable, the fall of the planet to the Reapers too closely resembled the attack on Earth, and the fact that they lost the VI data to Cerberus did not help the dejection current crawling its way around the Normandy. Frankly the whole thing was long coming, it was a miracle it didn’t happen sooner. Still, Tali wished it didn’t have to happen at all. Shepard deserved so much more, so much better than this world was throwing at her, she gave her all, and never asked for anything back. 

She looked over at her, Shepard’s head was resting on her shoulder, breathing slowly deliberately, trying to regain control. It’s times like this she wished that she didn’t rely on the envirosuit. She wanted to lean her head on her friend’s, breathe with her, help her. She settled on stroking her hair in time with each exhale, fingers running though her silken traces. She didn’t let go of her other hand, their entwined fingers lay resting on her lap, hepatic sensors relaying back Shepard’s heart beat which gradually slowed. 

“I’m scared” Shepard’s voice was faint. 

“I know, so am I” Tali answered quietly.

“What if I never see Earth again, what if you can’t have that house on Rannoch? What if I fail” tears pooled in her eyes again. 

“You’re a bosh'tet Shepard.” Tali laughed gently.

“You’re not very good at this comforting thing…” Shepard lifted her head up to look at her frowning, tears momentarily forgotten. 

“Ha, this is just not true” her voice was warm, a small smile on her lips “You aren’t alone, we are all here with you, it’s never just you. I for one would follow you to hell back, and I can assure you this is true of each and every person on this ship, and a few more across the galaxy. So stop blaming yourself, share the love, we can all do with some humbling. Some more than others” she glanced pointedly at the empty console on the other end of the room. 

Shepard sighed resting her head back on her shoulder “Okay, but that does not stop me being scared that we may fail. It makes it worst, if that’s possible. I want you, all of you to have a future, and a good one, and this… this” she hiccuped. 

“Well, I promise I will fight tooth and claw for that living room view” she smiled again “and for you to spend summers there, the varen puppies will probably love you more than me anyway. No amount of Reaper abominations will prevent me from sipping drinks with you on a warm evening there, they can fight me if they want to try. I’ll get us twisty straws, it will be wonderful”

Shepard laughed softly “Emergency Induction Port Zorah, not straws, I have been hit for less before” 

“See now you are getting it!” Tali drew her closer to herself resting her head atop hers, pleased with herself. 

“Listen Shepard” she continued “We will fight this, look at us, we’ve come so far already, we will not stop fighting. The Normandy, you, all of us, we all want that future, for ourselves, and especially for you. You’ve given so much for each and every one of us, and I would rather face a Thresher Maw with just Chikita than allow the possibility of you not having the happy ending” 

Shepard smiled in earnest now “I love you Tali”

“I love you too Shepard” Tali squeezed her hand. 

Tiny bonus undercut because BroT3. 

The door hissed opened, and a sounds of heavy footfalls reached their ears.

“Er, guys?” Garrus called out. 

“Over here” Tali answered. 

The turian rounded the corner, his eyes dilated as he saw the quarian and human huddled together. He picked up his pace and reached them in two long strides. Without another word, he fell to his knees besides the two women, his arms spread out encompassing them both. He scooped them both onto his lap as if they weighed nothing to him, resting his face between them. He sighed heavily drawing them even closer to himself and each other. 

“Next time, call me” he breathed out.


End file.
